Democratic Senator’s up for re-election in places where Trump won back in 2016 get targeted by Trump’s mouth and as Politico points out?
They hunker down and do NOT challenge him in public….
Most of them have been holding their own marginally in polling….
But Republicans hope that despite all the Democratic ‘wave’ talk?
They can pick off a few of those Senators, while making them vote for the next few months for what Republicans want , NOT what national Democrats want…
Trump has 52 million Twitter followers and the bully pulpit of the presidency. And Democrats know that when he gets locked in a beef with someone, the person on the other end of the conflict often comes out worse for it.
“They’re not interested in getting into a big food fight with President Trump,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the chairman of the party’s campaign arm. “That’s President Trump’s style, not their style.”
Trump’s zeal for political swipes at Democrats who’ve opposed his agenda is a critical X-factor heading into campaign season, as is Democrats’ strategy of silence in responding to him. Van Hollen said voters “are not going to just blindly listen” to Trump, though Trump’s Republican allies are warning that the president could easily tip the balance in close races.
And with a map stacked with Democrats up for reelection in states that Trump won, the president is itching to take on a Senate Democratic Caucus that he views as uncooperative and antagonistic.
“You’ll probably see the president traveling more after Memorial Day. You’ll see him going to places like Montana,” said Marc Short, the president’s top legislative aide. “It’s probably not in their best interest to be in a fight with the president.”
All the evidence suggests that Democrats agree.
Confronted with President Donald Trump’s derisive nickname for him, Donnelly merely chuckled and reiterated his focus on Indiana. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida said his reaction to Trump’s attacks on his immigration votes is simple: “I don’t do anything.”
While bashing Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Trump even dinged her state’s voters for electing a Democrat who had voted against his tax cut bill and against more draconian border security. “It’s your fault” for reelecting Stabenow, Trump said during a Michigan rally last month.
Stabenow refused to counterpunch: “People in Michigan know me,” she said in a brief interview. “It’s OK.”
Before and since Trump took office, Brown has gone out of his way to highlight his shared views with the president on trade. This week the Ohio Democrat repeated his openness to finding common ground….